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CARL TIETZE

Solovox (Carl) has been creating electronic music for almost twenty years. Starting with a simple four-track recorder, a drum machine, and a synth, his early compositions bear the hallmark of Vangelis, ELP, Pink Floyd and Jean Michel Jarre. Had he stayed that course, Solovox would probably not exist.

Instead, he attended the Music Composition program at the University Of Georgia starting in 1989. Self-taught at the piano from the age of 10, and composing from the start, he was urged to formalize his talents with a proper musical education. Along the way, however, technology and the advancement of computers in music-making stole his attention for good. This, along with the live music scene of Athens, Georgia brought him into live keyboard roles with Underwaterfall, The Nathan Sheppard Band, The Sugardaddys, Mile Zero and numerous others. By learning how to make music with players in a live setting, his solo work became richer and more human than the standard drum machine-synth sound.

Relocating to Portland, Oregon in 1998 Tietze immediately performed with King Black Acid, The Cosmopolitans, Diggabone, and John Henry. After a few eye-opening experiences at the Burning Man Festival, Tietze suddenly realized that his “rock n' roll hiatus” away from electronic music had come full circle. In the meantime electronic music had grown up and the toys had finally been developed to a state that he had always wanted: immediate, musical control of the sound.

With newfound inspiration and new music technology suddenly available, Solovox was born in May of 2001. From the immediate start listeners were blown away by a live musician hand-playing funky, analog-driven melodic dance and epic downtempo compositions where once only a DJ was visible. Starting with a massive MIDI rig and vintage gear like the Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer Piano, and Moog Prodigy, he later became a believer in the Ableton Live program and has now mastered this amazing software for composition and performance. He has taught private students in both music software like Ableton, Logic and Reason, as well as general MIDI and electronic music production. His sound continues to be a beautiful meshing of the old analog sound and the most cutting edge techniques of The Chemical Brothers, Mirwais, and The Crystal Method.

Under his commercial moniker Soundriver Music LTD, he recently scored A&E's Biography of Dorothy Stratten. His music has been heard on PBS, and he continues to be a popular draw in Portland with both weekly downtempo shows and numerous dance-floor-crushing performances at clubs and parties in the Northwest. His debut CD, Break Out Of Prism shows the range of his abilities, and features local talents like Jen Folker and Lea Krueger, as well as Ivan DePrume, original drummer for White Zombie. >From cosmic keyboard-driven funk to smooth and energetic house to even psy-trance, Solovox leaves his own original stamp on everything he does. A musician first, he has never been intimidated by the technology of modern music-making…and he is always eager to share his knowledge and enthusiasm for this wonderful time in music history.